Public Advocate calls for NYCHA chair Shola Olatoye to step down after lead paint lie as mayor fiercely defends her

NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye walks with a police escort in Manhattan on Nov. 16. Olatoye has come under fire for allegedly lying about lead-paint testing in NYCHA apartments. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

The call for a shakeup at the city Housing Authority amid a growing lead-paint scandal got louder Thursday as the public advocate demanded NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye resign.

And the Bronx borough president asked Gov. Cuomo to step in.

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But Mayor de Blasio took a break from his vacation in Connecticut to tweet that the call for Olatoye to step down was "a cheap stunt" and that she "isn't going anywhere."

The resignation demand from Public Advocate Letitia James came hours after she met with Olatoye in her office on Centre St.

During the hourlong tête-à-tête, James demanded an explanation regarding Tuesday's damning Department of Investigation report that found in 2016 Olatoye certified that NYCHA was in compliance with rules requiring annual lead paint inspections of apartments when she knew it wasn't.

James questioned Olatoye about the false certification. Afterwards, she concluded reform would have to start with Olatoye's departure.

"After meeting with the NYCHA chair today, it has become clear to me that it is time for sweeping operational changes, independent monitoring and transparency at (NYCHA)," James said. "It's time for new leadership and a fresh start at NYCHA. The circumstances surrounding the city's failure to conduct lead inspections and the false reporting that followed are simply unacceptable."

On Wednesday, de Blasio defended Olatoye but admitted to the Daily News that NYCHA's actions were "unacceptable." On Thursday, he went postal from the Nutmeg State, taking aim at James via his official Twitter account without mentioning her name.

Olatoye "isn't going anywhere," he tweeted. "She didn't create the agency's shortcomings — she's the one I trust to fix them. It's a cheap stunt to call for her to step down, one that puts political ambition ahead of the urgent needs of NYCHA's residents."

City Public Advocate Letitia James demanded “new leadership and a fresh start” after a morning meeting with Olatoye at her office. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

James soon fired back via spokeswoman Anna Brower, who stated, "While the mayor is busy tweeting from Connecticut, we're focused on protecting the homes of New Yorkers."

Earlier Thursday Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. wrote to Cuomo, the state attorney general and the state controller asking them to appoint a state monitor.

The Department of Investigation had recommended that NYCHA appoint a monitor, but Diaz wanted a more independent voice.

"Such a monitor should not come from the city, given its compromised status as the current overseer of public housing in New York City," he wrote.

"We have continuously expressed concerns with NYCHA's operational failures and these latest allegations — and potential legal violations — that the agency knowingly committed by exposing New Yorkers to lead paint are particularly disturbing," said Cuomo spokeswoman Abby Fashnouer, who acknowledged that Cuomo got Diaz's letter.

NYCHA is obligated by city law and federal regulation to inspect all apartments with possible lead paint hazards every year.The agency stopped doing the annual inspections in 2012 under Olatoye's predecessor, John Rhea, a Wall Streeter with no housing experience appointed by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

De Blasio and Olatoye are weighing DOI's suggestion of hiring a monitor, but another outside actor may determine how this plays out.

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For two years the Manhattan U.S. attorney has been investigating whether NYCHA misled the federal government about the conditions of its apartments. Prosecutors are now in talks with NYCHA to reach a settlement that could involve judicial oversight of the agency.